Matias Eloy Vecinais

Our grandpa Matias Eloy Vecinais “Popo” as we called him, age 83 was born on May 19, 1940 in
San Marcos Texas to Dolores Rocha and Jesus Besinaiz.
Popo attended school in San Marcos, Texas and Greenfield, California. Our grandpa worked in
agriculture, hauling lettuce, peppers, tomatoes and sugar beets in the Sacramento and Salinas
Valley. He worked in the commercial driving industry as a semi-truck driver and also worked as a
handyman.
Our grandpa’s talents were many, he was extremely organized and kept a neat space. He loved
reading, fishing, enjoyed watching western TV shows, riding his bike and spending time on the
road. But really, he enjoyed those westerns the most. Popo had the ability to recite some of those
TV lines verbatim. Seriously, he’d play the westerns channel every single day and night. There
wasn’t an infomercial he did not like. Our grandpa often wrote down the 1-800 numbers and would
hand them over to his daughter Dolores with a request for such items as hair growing shampoo to
Coppertone socks. Popo was also known for his great sense of humor and for having a heart of
gold. He was extremely compassionate and was always willing to help people in need.
Most of all, our grandpa was a great storyteller. He could retell each story so vividly that you could
picture every last detail as he spoke. He never forgot the names of the individuals he went on
adventures with. One of the memories that stands out was that of the family pet goat. You see,
Popo would migrate from Texas to California with his maternal grandparents to follow the crops as
many people have done. You have to step back in time to acknowledge the 1940’s, a time when
those multi state road trips took a few days to travel. On this particular trip west, the pet goat was
also part of the cargo. On the second day of a long trip, our great grandparents Matias and
Angelita Rocha stopped for the night. As grandpa and his cousin played, his grandparents
prepared dinner. This was way before fast food, drive-through orders, and yelping to find a favorite
meal before your next stop. Needless to say, the next morning when they continued their trip out
west the goat was nowhere to be seen.
Our grandpa is preceded in death by his mother Dolores Rocha Gonzales, father Jesus Besinaiz
and his brother Frank “Sonny” Rocha.
He leaves to cherish his memory by his wife of 49 years Maria Antonia Besinaiz of Greenfield Ca,
daughters Corina Besinaiz and Rosemary Besinaiz of Folsom Ca, Yolanda Besinaiz of Fresno Ca,
Erika (Martin) Argueta of Yuma Az, Dolores (Jose) Rodriguez of Fremont Ca and son James
Castillo of Soledad Ca. Grandchildren Belinda Besinaiz of Greenfield Ca, Martin Alejandro Argueta
of Tucson, Az, Kassandra (Daniel) Carrazco and Eden Argueta of Yuma, Az. Genevie Marie
Patiño, Emma Isabella Rodriguez and Ariel Celeste Rodriguez of Fremont Ca. Great grandchildren
Jeramiah Besinaiz of Milpitas Ca, Alexia Del Real of Modesto Ca, and Charlotte Carrazco of Yuma
Az.
Pallbearers are Martin Arugeta Trujillo, Jose Rodriguez, James Castillo, Martin Alejandro Argueta,
Daniel Carrazco and Michael Jacquez.
He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and all who knew him.

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